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F&C PRR F34 heavy duty flatcar
mopacfirst
Now for some model questions -- I noticed the F&C kit for the F34 heavy duty flatcar (kit 8470) is not on their website at present. But there's one on eBay.
Has anybody built one? Is it sturdy enough to operate, specifically the trucks? I read the TKM article about building one from an Athearn, but it doesn't mention the F&C model. Ron Merrick
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Ron,
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Look a little closer ;) It’s right on the F&C front page. http://www.fandckits.com It’s kit #8470. It is not listed in either the PRR listing or the listing by kit number, but the F&C web site
is a bit like their kit instructions, so that really shouldn’t surprise you!
The F&C model came out last year, after the article by Chuck Cover was written and submitted. My TKM article about creating etched brass decks for the F34 DOES mention the F&C kit as well as having some illustrations that nicely indicate that
pattern of holes and rivets in the decks of these cars. And not, the deck was NOT “sacrificial” as one recent reply indicated. It was heavy gauge steel, meant to take the force of the ties downs with any additional reinforcing. Referencing back to the C&NW
car, I do NOT know if the decks were the same, but I suspect that they were different, as the decks I did came directly from PRR drawings and I am fairly sure that the decks were made by the PRR.
Because I am somewhat delusional, my plan is to sand the resin deck off of the F&C car, clear all of the resin from the areas that would have been open on the frame and then apply my etched brass decks, with the addition of Archer rivets. Without
doing that, the kit looks very simple, with the caveat that the sill steps are fragile as hell and really need a brass replacement… (as with the F33).
The car requires 5’ wheelbase trucks, which can be bashed from Bower’s single spring PRR cabin car truck, or you can use the resin trucks in the kit. I am not thrilled with using resin trucks, but that is what I did with the F&C F33 and I may
do that with the F34 as well. If they fail, modified Bowser trucks are a possible fall back position.
Regards Bruce
Bruce F. Smith Auburn, AL "Some days you are the bug, some days you are the windshield."
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mopacfirst
You're right about the quality of the website being commensurate with the kit instructions.....
The fact that the deck plates are separate, and not welded together, is an indication that these are a lot heavier than, say, a typical gondola floor. They'd have to be, if you were really expecting any significant vertical upward loads from the tie-downs. My personal desires along the lines of a heavy duty flatcar are much more along the lines of one of those GSC depressed-center flatcars, but the four-truck flat deck one is probably second after that. Ron Merrick Ron Merrick
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Ralph W. Brown
Hi Ron,
I bought one (and an F28 well hole flat) at the NE Proto meet in Farmington
in June. I haven’t started it yet, but if it is anything like the P&LE
F-7 they did in their hands-on clinic, it should be very nice. The six
wheel trucks for that F-7 were good looking one-piece castings that were sturdy
and seemed to roll well with the Code 88 wheels I brought for the clinic – Kadee
I think.
Pax,
Ralph
Brown
Portland, Maine PRRT&HS No. 3966 NMRA No. L2532 rbrown51[at]maine[dot]rr[dot]com
From: mopacfirst
Sent: Monday, July 22, 2019 1:07 PM
To: main@RealSTMFC.groups.io
Subject: [RealSTMFC] F&C PRR F34 heavy duty
flatcar Now
for some model questions -- I noticed the F&C kit for the F34 heavy duty
flatcar (kit 8470) is not on their website at present. But there's one on
eBay. Has anybody built one? Is it sturdy enough to operate, specifically the trucks? I read the TKM article about building one from an Athearn, but it doesn't mention the F&C model. Ron Merrick
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mopacfirst
OK, thanks for the help.
Ron Merrick
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Bill Welch
In the CNW photo the trucks appear to be Two-Level Dalmans. The resin trucks with the F&C kit appear to be Two-Level Dalmans. If I am correct what not use Tahoe's Two-Level Dalmans?
Bill Welch
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Andy Cich
Bill,
The F34 needs 5' wheelbase trucks. I am considering Walthers ore car trucks. They do have 4 visible springs, but lack the two- level appearance. https://www.walthers.com/rigid-trucks-w-33-quot-metal-wheels-axles-5-wheelbase-for-ore-cars-1-pair Andy Cich
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Chuck Cover
RE: . I am considering Walthers ore car trucks.
Andy and Elden,
I also used those Walthers ore car trucks on my kitbashed F34. They look good and equally important to me is that they operate extremely well on my Shamokin Branch layout. That F34 has been running around the layout for over 18 months without a derailment which is pretty good considering the truck arrangement.
When we model we are always making compromises. I try to get as much prototype fidelity as I can while still building a model that operates well and will hold up to some handling.
Chuck Cover Santa Fe, NM
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